Modern progressive rock band Coheed and Cambria’s upcoming sixth studio album will be a double concept album entitled “The Afterman”, which will be released in two separate full-length volumes. The band made the announcement today via a cinematic video trailer on their official website.

The first volume, ‘The Afterman: Ascension,’ will be available on both physical and digital platforms October 8, 2012 via V2 Recordings/Everything Evil andthe second volume, ‘The Afterman: Descension’ is slated for release in February 2013.

The trailer, a 90-second black and white classic film-noir style short, from director Robert Schober, depicts a cosmonaut preparing to leave his spaceship for a journey into a mysterious unknown; over an instrumental Coheed and Cambria musical bed. Watch the visual now at www.coheedandcambria.com

The band also confirmed a handful of intimate U.S. club shows leading up to the release of ‘Afterman’, with a UK tour in November of this year which follows Coheed and Cambria’s Main Stage performances at Reading and Leeds 2012.

A deluxe version of the ‘Afterman’ will include a hardcover coffee-table book with expansive art by Heidi Taillefer and Nathan Spoor with collaborative written work from singer/creator Claudio Sanchez and writer Peter David that will create a song by song experience. David previously worked with Sanchez on the prose novel adaptation of the band’s 2010 album “Year of the Black Rainbow,” and the graphic novel adaptation of their 2003 album “In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3 (which reached #4 on the New York Times Bestsellers list for graphic novels earlier this year).” All the band’s titles, including “The Afterman,” fall into a grand sci-fi story arc called ‘The Amory Wars.”

It was announced previously at this month’s San Diego Comic Con that The Amory Wars has been picked up by Mark Wahlberg and Stephen Levinson of Leverage Productions to be developed into a live-action feature film.

Musically, ‘Afterman’sees the band perfecting their powerhouse progressive rock, soul and even pop landscapes. The dual release also marks the return of original drummer Josh Eppard, who the band parted ways with in 2006, bringing with him his benchmark percussive grooves. Coheed and Cambria self-financed andco-produced ‘Afterman,’ alongside Michael Birnbaum and Chris Bittner, who produced the band’s first 3 albums, in Woodstock, NY. ‘Afterman’ was mixed by Rich Costey (Muse, The Shins, Foster the People) and Ryan Williams (30 Seconds To Mars).

“This is without a doubt, the most honest record I’ve ever written,” says Sanchez. “Though all the songs can be interpreted through our main character in the story, they were initially written in a very spontaneous manner.” “In the past,” he continues,” I’ve always had a predetermined idea of what the story was going to be when I approached the songs. With ‘The Afterman’ being a new story within the (Amory Wars) arc, I allowed the events of my life to drive the concept, and therefore opened up the songwriting to a fuller degree.”

Coheed and Cambria are currently on the road in North America with Iron Maiden.

About The Amory Wars: An epic, sci-fi fantasy set in an alternate universe (Heaven’s Fence) that chronicles the rise of superhuman dictator Wilhelm Ryan, and the one family that could hold the key to liberating the world from his tyrannical reign. The mythology was originally created by Sanchez to serve as inspiration for the band’s albums, but the series expanded to other mediums, including both prose and graphic novels.

About The Afterman: Sirius Amory, the most celebrated astronomer/scientist in the alternate universe of Heaven’s Fence is ‘‘The Afterman.’ Sirius (pronounced “Sy-ruhss”) is credited with the discovery of the energy force (known as The Keywork) that binds the 78 planets of these worlds together. He embarks on the greatest discovery of his existence, and possibly mankind’s. By doing so, what is truly most important to him begins to slip right through his hands.